]]>Bathroom ceiling mold becomes a problem in most homes after a while, but fixing this problem involves more than just adding a coat of paint. If you do only that, the bathroom ceiling mold will just come back again in short order. That’s why all longer-term fixes depend on surface preparation and killing mold spores before painting happens. The process I use involves removing the fan grille, scraping off loose paint, sanding the ceiling, killing the mold, filling an surface depressions, then priming and painting.

See how to eliminate the mold on bathroom ceiling problem with my video tutorial right here.

]]>Many older homes and pieces of antique furniture have gorgeous woodwork hidden under layers of paint, and that’s why refinishing wood remains so popular. Safe, effective paint stripping involves three main steps: softening the old coating, scraping off most of the mess, then (in some cases) completing the final surface prep by sanding. The trick is making this happen in a way that’s safe for you, your family and your neighbours.

You can soften paint chemically or with heat, and advances in technology have improved both these methods. The first products to challenge traditional strippers were citrus-based, and they didn’t work very well. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that all new stripper formulations aren’t good. That’s simply not true any more. I’ve used Citrus Strip, Organic Strip and Greensolv in my work for years. They perform well because they don’t dry out. Brush them on and they stay wet and active as long as necessary to soften multiple layers of finish in one go.

Why bother with new stripper formulations at all? Traditional strippers, though still available, are made with methylene chloride, and experience has shown that it’s very difficult to get enough ventilation to let this product be used safely indoors. Unless you’re using a chemical stripper outside, choose a safer formulation, though you still need to protect yourself. Safer as these products might be, wear a respirator and rubber gloves while stripping paint. Besides protecting you against fumes, more importantly a respirator and gloves protects against toxins in the paint itself.

Want to steer clear of the hassle and expense of liquid paint strippers altogether? Many pros use heat to soften paints, and while this is effective, it may also be killing them. Even though stripping old paint with a propane torch has been standard practice for years, don’t do it. It’s a health hazard, especially in older homes because paints used before the 1970s were made with lead. This highly toxic metal vapourizes when heated hotter than about 1100°F, as usually happens with a propane torch. But this doesn’t mean that you’ve got to resort exclusively to strippers and scraping if you want to stay safe. There’s another way to deliver paint-stripping heat and it’s faster, more effective and safer than a propane torch. One option I’ve used personally, is called the Silent Paint Remover. It’s a hand-held plug-in electric tool that uses a glowing red element to heat the paint and soften it by radiation, at temperatures lower than the vaporization point of lead. Regardless of how you remove old paint, all scraped or stripped residue must be disposed of as toxic waste.

Softening paint is only part of the equation. The next phase usually involves scraping, and for this to happen efficiently, you need to use more than just an old putty knife. The key to effective paint scraping are tools that match the shape of the surfaces you’re stripping, while also allowing your whole upper body to get in on the act, if possible.

No matter what kind of stripping and scraping strategy you use, sanding is usually at least a little part of the final phase of a paint stripping job. Sanding by hand alone, with a quarter-sheet finishing sander, or with a detail sander puts the finishing touch on your old wood before applying any new finish. Just don’t sand too much. Old wood usually has a rich glow about it, and if you work your way back to a completely fresh surface, you’ll lose a lot of the beauty that’s there. A little polymerized tung oil, or Wipe-On Poly is just the thing to let the beauty and patina shine through.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/safe-and-effective-paint-stripping/feed/0PLANS & VIDEO: How to Build a Cabinhttps://stevemaxwell.ca/how-to-build-cabin-plans/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/how-to-build-cabin-plans/#commentsSat, 04 Oct 2014 15:14:54 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=18982Do you dream of building your own cabin or tiny house? Need plans and hands-on construction help with videos? Download a free preview of Steve's cabin building course – Cozy Cabin. It's the next best thing to having Steve work side-by-side with you on your site.

Tiny House, Big Life

Have you ever wanted to build your own small, affordable cabin in the woods? I first felt the urge when I was 11 years old, back in 1974, and most of my adult life has been spent building things in pursuit of that vision: cabins, a country home, outbuildings, and a rural lifestyle of self sufficiency. I know the small cabin dream is something a lot of people share because I hear from them all the time. Perhaps you’re one of them. Does this vision make you smile:

Rays of early morning sunlight peek gently through double-hung windows, easing you into wakefulness. Getting up from your bed in the loft, you look over the railing and see everything you need for a simple, happy life: a pine table for meals; a writing desk; a collection of favorite books on wall shelves just below the ceiling. There’s a wood box filled with logs, split and ready for the woodstove. Built-in shelves are stocked with the kind of comfortable clothes that most people only get to wear on weekends. And as you gather your thoughts for the day, you find something else here, too. It’s the ease of knowing that your life isn’t caught up in the treadmill of vacuuming acres of broadloom while serving a monster mortgage. Your life is simple, it’s good, it’s yours and it’s paid for. This is the essence of the cabin dream, and I know many people long for it.

My cabin experiences spring from the good fortune of being born into a family that owned a genuine log cabin. It was built by an eccentric bachelor ancestor of mine in 1923. Kenneth Malcolm Evans – Uncle Ken as he’s still called today. That’s him on the far right. He lived most of his adult life on the shores of a great freshwater sea, in a place that still holds my heart. Boyhood experiences at this cabin led me to where I’ve lived for more than half my life now – on a very rural island called Manitoulin. I’m happy to say that my kids have come to love the country, too. One of them is even living his own cabin lifestyle now, too. That’s not only pleasing to me, but it gets me thinking. In a continent as large as North America, surely there’s room for more cabin people to live the life they really long for. Would you like to have you own cabin? Building it yourself is a big part of the satisfaction (and the financial savings), and that’s why I wrote my video ebook & building course, Cozy Cabin. It’s got detailed plans for building a 16′ x 25′ cabin, clear instructions, excellent photos and more than 40 videos that lead you step-by-step through the process. Video ebooks are the best way to learn things like building a cabin, and you can download a free preview copy here. It includes a taste of all the features in the full version.

]]>Many people finish basements each year, but most of those finishing jobs are destined to be less than they can be. Sub-standard approaches to basement insulation and subfloors are the reasons why. Watch my video below to learn how to apply basement insulation so your finished space is warm, cozy and much less likely to form mold, mildew and mustiness than most basements.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/basement-insulation/feed/0EASIER LIVING: Simple Clock Eases Dementia Burdenhttps://stevemaxwell.ca/dementia-clock/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/dementia-clock/#commentsSat, 13 Sep 2014 21:32:36 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19285The large display face on this unique digital time clocks make time and date easy to read and see. It's especially useful to ease the anxiety of people with age-related disabilities and dementia.

The numbers and letters on this large, simple clock are easy for anyone to read. It’s especially helpful for those suffering from dementia-related anxiety.

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make the biggest difference, and for some people this means an easy way to see what time and date it is. Sounds basic, I know, but when advancing age, dementia, stroke, deteriorating eye sight or creeping mental infirmity make ordinary time pieces impossible to use, a just-the-basics clock starts to make sense. I don’t have trouble using regular clocks and watches (not yet, anyway), but timepiece simplicity is still a good thing in my book. Surely I’m not the only one tired of a world filled with over-done, over-featured clocks, am I?

For the last 5 years, my favourite wall clock has been a large, simple, self-setting model with hands. It’s made by a company called La Crosse and though it adjusts its own time based on a wireless signal, it’s still not ideal for people losing the ability to remember time and date information. I’ve seen this happen to a few people, and that’s one reason I took a closer look at something called Dayclox. It may be the world’s easiest-to-read digital clock and calendar.

Dayclox is a plug-in digital clock with an 8” screen that delivers just the basics, nice and clear. Day-of-week, time, month and date information are obvious to see and understand. I’ve been using Dayclox in my home for three months, and I find it a breath of fresh air. Super-bright, white letters on a black screen make it exceptionally easy to read in my performance tests. The unit also has an internal memory that retains time and date settings even when unplugged. The clock continued to keep time for days during my tests simulating an extended power failure.

The clock’s display can be set for 12- or 24-hour mode and the calendar has 8 language options. There’s an instruction manual, but I found it unnecessary. Just hit the menu button, then choose different setting options.

The need for a simple, reliable, easy-to-read timepiece is something that struck Ontario nursing home worker Gary Ball, too. And he saw it most obviously because of his mom.

“When my mother moved into the retirement home where I work, she’d wander over to see me more than once a day to ask ‘What day is it?”explained Gary. “I wondered if there might be something out there to help her feel more at ease. I found and bought a Dayclox online for Mom because it looked like it would give her peace of mind. It certainly has. She never has to ask me what day it is now.”

One criticism I can offer is that Dayclox needs to be reset twice a year as daylight savings time come and go. There’s a leg on the back of the clock that extends to allow the unit to stand upright on a table or desk, and a hole in the back of the case for hanging the unit on a wall.

Gary liked his mom’s Dayclox experience so much that last October he set up a Canadian retail website as a sideline to his work at the retirement home (www.daycloxcanada.com). That’s turning out to be a story in itself.

“It’s quite a balancing act getting a little business up and running online,” explains Gary. “Most of our earnings have gone back into the business, and there are lots of things to learn.”

Super-simple, easy-to-read time and date information might not seem like much to most of us, but it can make a difference for individuals with challenges, and those people taking care of them. Like I said, sometimes it’s the little things in life that matter the most.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/dementia-clock/feed/0VIDEO FEATURE: Cedar Sidewall Shingles Drainagehttps://stevemaxwell.ca/cedar-sidewall-shingles/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/cedar-sidewall-shingles/#commentsFri, 29 Aug 2014 12:49:27 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19232Got a building where vinyl siding just wouldn't look right? Cedar shingles used as exterior siding is an excellent option. Watch Steve show how to create back-of-shingle drainage to boost working life even more.

]]>Cedar sidewall shingles are one of the best options for natural exterior wall siding. It looks great on any natural building site, it lasts a long time and requires no maintenance. No other wood siding can compete with the durability and good looks of cedar shingles, and working life is extended even more if you create a vertical drainage path behind the shingles to allow any moisture to escape downward harmlessly from the wall.

The quick video below shows what this detail looks like from the bottom edge of a wall, the place where moisture would escape if needed.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/cedar-sidewall-shingles/feed/0VIDEO FEATURE: See How Skylights Cool Your Homehttps://stevemaxwell.ca/skylights-keep-cool/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/skylights-keep-cool/#commentsMon, 21 Jul 2014 19:21:15 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19134Want to keep a lot cooler in summer without relying so much on air conditioning? Check out Steve's 2-minute video tour of how openable skylights can do this for you.

]]>Cabins with lofts always present the greatest challenge to keep cool in summer. These conditions are so extreme that lessons learned in cabins apply at least as well to full-size homes. And the lesson is quite simple: Hot air rises and stays in upper story areas, unless you give it a chance to escape.

This “Sharpie Marker” video tutorial shows the simple but effective way that openable skylights allows hot air to rise from warm areas of a building. This lets air move upwards through lower-floor windows in a way that has to be felt to be believed.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/skylights-keep-cool/feed/0FRIENDLY ADVICE: Avoid Biggest Wood Fence Stain Mistakehttps://stevemaxwell.ca/wood-fence-stain/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/wood-fence-stain/#commentsFri, 11 Jul 2014 14:35:13 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19089A long-time reader is about to waste time and money doing something to her fence that a lot of people are confused about. Read her email and my answer:

Hope all is well with you…. Can I pick your brain once again about wood fence stain? Our pressure treated wood fence is about 15 or so years old and still looks great. We’ve never done anything to it but a friend of a friend was telling us that we should. He said a clear water repellent product is the best product to use to give your fence a longer life. Just spray it on. Is this true? How important is it to first pressure wash it? I would assume this step is critical but I just want to be sure it’s advisable to use a pressure washer on a wooden fence. Looking forward to hearing from you Steve. We’d like to get this project done at the first opportunity.

Thanks again for all your help.- JC

Hi JC!

I’d definitely leave your fence just the way it is. Don’t bother with wood fence stain or repellent in your case. Many people have the idea that a wood finish extends wood life, but that’s not true. Wood finishes are about looks, not preservation. Sure, a finish will prevent surface cracking, but only if it’s maintained. And in the case of your fence, the fact that you’re pleased with it after 15 years of no finish proves even more that there’s nothing that needs to be done. Just enjoy the maintenance-free approach you’ve taken so far. Does this help? I hope so.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/wood-fence-stain/feed/0VIDEO FEATURE: How to Kill Mold Without Fearhttps://stevemaxwell.ca/how-to-kill-mold/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/how-to-kill-mold/#commentsWed, 18 Jun 2014 19:58:43 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19060Watch Steve explain how to safely and effectively kill mold at your place. There's nothing complicate about it, you just need to do the right things in the right way.

]]>Mold can grow in your home at any time. Hot, humid weather can bring it on, and the depths of winter also promote mold when outdoor temperatures drop low enough to trigger running condensation on windows. Either way, there’s no need to fear mold. That’s because there are safe ways to kill it and keep it from coming back. All you need is the step-by-step kill mold strategies you’ll find in my video tutorial below. I know they work because I’ve used them.

]]>https://stevemaxwell.ca/how-to-kill-mold/feed/0VIDEO FEATURE: Improve Your Deck Planshttps://stevemaxwell.ca/improve-your-deck-plans/
https://stevemaxwell.ca/improve-your-deck-plans/#commentsMon, 16 Jun 2014 16:18:41 +0000http://stevemaxwell.ca/?p=19012Let Steve show you what goes into a great new deck or deck finish. You won't find this information anywhere else on the web.

]]>Most new deck plans look pretty good on paper at first, but the real test of a deck is how well is lasts after it’s built. And the difference between a short-lived deck and one that keeps doing a good job for 25, 30 or even 50 years comes down to design details that aren’t obvious. And to be honest, most deck builders don’t understand these details because they have no vested interest in building the longest lasting deck possible. Why would they? What does it matter to them if your deck rots in 15 years or 50? Only the best builders care about such things.

The same goes for deck finishes. It’s easy to apply any old deck stain, but long finish life depends on much more than just sloshing on whatever stuff has the best label. You need to apply products with a proven track record based on independent testing, and this is why I spend so much time and effort discovering and gathering the best deck information possible. Here’s what you need to know in a nutshell:

How to Build Great, Regardless of Your Deck Plans

1. Build your deck so the internal framework dries quickly. Too many deck beams and posts and boards have large overlap areas that keeps wood wet for days after a rain. Spacers and design tricks that minimize wood-to-wood contact greatly increases rot resistance. Watch this video to see what I mean:

2. Don’t skimp on the foundation. While it’s easier to build a deck that just sits on the ground, a sub-surface foundation is so much more reliable. Why risk thousands of dollars of wood on a top-of-ground that might move and wreck your deck? Watch this video to see one foundation option I really like. It’s worth modifying your deck plans:

3. Mill beautiful details. A router is a hand-held woodworking tool that shapes wood and makes it more fancy. And a little bit of router work goes a long way to make an ordinary deck look exceptional. The difference really is stunning, and it takes only a little extra time.

4. Consider composite deck materials. Although wood is still required for structural deck beams and posts and joists, many people are very happy with composite or plastic materials for deck surfaces. Freedom from finishing maintenance is the reason why. Composite materials cost more, but they save you the cost of finishing materials and refinishing labor.

5. Be informed about deck stains. If you do use wood for your deck surface, understand that film-forming finishes look terrific but pose the greatest refinishing challenges. Soak-in stains are easier to maintain, but don’t look as refined. There are also one-time deck finishing products that look much better than ordinary weathering, without much extra work.

Need more help with your deck plans? Check out my book, Love Your Deck. It’s the world’s most detailed digital course on building a durable deck and applying a finish that lasts. 66 pages, 11 videos and lots of illustrations and photos. Whether you’re hiring a deck contractor or building a deck yourself, this shows you how to do things right.